river_monstersfandomcom-20200213-history
Greenland Shark
Description The Greenland Shark is the world's fourth-largest shark, and the world's second-largest predatory shark, the largest being the Great White Shark. The Greenland Shark can grow to 24 feet in length, and over 3000 pounds in weight. No recorded Great White Shark has reached the length of the Greenland Shark. Greenland Sharks have extremely rough skin. They are typically dark brown to dark grey in color. Unlike most sharks, Greenland sharks, and all other members of Somniosidae (Sleeper Sharks), do not have erect dorsal fins. Their fins are notably shorter and more stubby, In River Monsters The Greenland shark was the monster that Jeremy Wade suspected of being the origin of the legend of Loch Ness in the finale of River Monsters Season 5. Ancient paintings of some sort of Loch Monster were found not only in areas in Scotland but also in Iceland. An account from around 1500 years ago tells of a man being killed by the Loch Ness Monster and then being banished into the Loch. This not only showed that this monster may not be a gentle giant, but a killer, but it also showed that it had some connection with a Viking Monster. The plesiosaur hypothesis doesn't quite stack up because since plesiosaurs were marine reptiles they would have to go to the surface to breathe air. A lake like Loch Ness which is so highly scrutinised could not conceal an air breather. Wade goes over several other candidates before reaching an ancient library in Iceland where he hears of a massive predatory shark that lives in unimaginably cold water. It takes him a while to track down a place to catch this huge predator which grows well in excess of 1,000 pounds. Large specimens are said to reach 24 feet long and 3,100 pounds! These sharks are often caught by either Inuit Ice Fishermen or huge Trawlers. All of the Trawlers Jeremy tracks down are either not going out again that year or are staying out for weeks or months. Jeremy feels like his investigation is coming to a dead end when he hears of some people who can help him catch a Greenland Shark in Trondheim, Norway. Jeremy travels to Norway, and fishes day in and day out. However, winter is approaching, and this is highly sensitive fishing. Jeremy has to cast into a submerged grand canyon which is way deeper than the height of the Empire State Building. He catches a rare Norwegian Skate but does not bring in a shark. Winter begins to loom ever closer. After an extremely bad day on the fjord, Jeremy hears bad news on the weather forecast: this is his last day shark fishing on the fjord. An Arctic storm will soon hit, and he will have to quit for the winter. His final hours quickly slip by. Finally, after reeling in around 50 miles of line just to check his baits which are often eaten by sea lice, he hooks into something huge. After a long struggle, he brings in a 400 odd pound specimen. However, evidence does not suggest that these sharks are killers, so Jeremy gets in the water with it wearing a dry suit. Still, the water is extremely cold despite his extensive clothing. Jeremy marvels at how this shark lives 2,000 feet below the surface. Although evidence does not point to it being a killer, it still was the only suspect that Jeremy did not dismiss. But in 2013, a specimen washed up on a beach in Northumberland, England. This was like Jeremy's back yard, and although he did not immediately investigate this new lead, it was on his mind as a little out of the ordinary. It was so unusual that the locals could not identify it, so they sent it to a museum with a collection of rare and odd specimens. Here Jeremy gets a better look at its weaponry. It has a jaw with four times as many teeth as a Great White Shark. Jeremy begins to question the wisdom of getting in the water with one. Now strange stories are emerging from across the frozen oceans. Stories talk of this monster eating polar bears and of some individuals alive today being older than George Washington. So in Season 9, Jeremy takes on a new investigation. He travels to Umanak in Greenland. Greenland is the country with the lowest population density in the world. It only has 50,000 residents. With 1,282 residents, Umanak is a large town by Greenland's standards. It has a port full of large ships, although the sea is frozen. Ice fishermen just cut holes in the sea ice and fish for cod underneath. However, cod is not what Jeremy is interested in. He does catch a cod, but soon moves on to the main fish. He teams up with an Inuit Ice fisherman searching for these sharks and catches a huge individual that probably weighs over 1,000 pounds from 3,000 feet underwater. He then travels to Norway in search of more evidence. It appears that these fish have struck unimaginable terror into people with their weird predatory ways. And, some specimens alive today were swimming in the ocean when the Mayflower was sailing. These sharks can live up to 400 or 500 years! This makes them one of the longest living animals. Jeremy fishes for them again on a fjord in Norway, but he is faced with his old problem. Another Arctic storm is coming. He catches a 40 year old adolescent. He also sees a military submarine emerge right in front of him. He finally catches a 200 year old one that weighs about 700 pounds. But these two sharks acted more like Great Whites, they were not docile. So if these sharks really are so mean, they may be "Jaws waiting to happen". Especially because they are leaving their frozen world where they eat polar bears, and going to England! Greenland_shark.jpg Greenland_shark1.jpg Greenland_shark0.jpg Greenland_shark2.jpg Greenland_shark_Jaws.jpg Legend_of_Loch_ness.jpg Greenland_shark_Ice.jpg images (2).jpg x1080-_2y.jpg images (3).jpg Category:Article stubs Category:Oceanic Category:River Monsters Category:Toothy fish Category:Northern Hemisphere Category:Animal Category:Animals Category:Fish Category:River Monsters Wiki Category:Europe Category:Season 9 Category:Season 5 Category:Old Category:Predator Category:Carnivores Category:Carnivore Category:Culprits Category:Sharks Category:Double culprits Category:Prehistoric Category:Cartilaginous